Patriots

Patriots’ draft pick Chasen Hines gets Boston welcome from David Ortiz

"congratulations and welcome to new england ‘Big Papa.'"

By Conor Roche

May 1, 2022

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In the final day of the 2022 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected multiple players that had admiration for Boston-area teams and athletes despite being from other parts of the country.

Sixth-round pick Sam Roberts, a Missouri native who attended Northwest Missouri State, grew up a Patriots fan. The defensive tackle said he was also a Tom Brady fan and looked up to Vince Wilfork growing up.

The Patriots’ other sixth-round pick, LSU offensive guard Chasen Hines, looked up to an athlete that played for another Boston team. Up until he was in high school, Hines’s primary sport was baseball, and he hoped he’d reach the major leagues someday.

As Hines was chasing his baseball dream, he emulated his game after Red Sox legend David Ortiz.

“So, the funny part is my primary number — I wore 34. Growing up I was called ‘Big Papa’ just because I was one of the biggest kids on the team and I batted fourth like he did,” Hines said. “I wore 34 and he was really the main reason why. I always loved baseball and had a passion for it, just watching him.”

After learning of Hines’s admiration for him, Ortiz welcomed the new Patriot to town via Twitter.

“congratulations and welcome to new england ‘Big Papa’ 🤣🤣🙌🏿🙌🏿

@chasen_hines@Patriots,” Ortiz tweeted.

Hines ultimately made the switch from baseball to football full-time when he was in high school, believing that his future outlook was better in the trenches rather than at the plate.

“Baseball really was the thing for me since I was like five all the way, I wanna say to like my sophomore year of high school,” Hines said. “That was the thing I did every year, the travel league and stuff like that.

“Really, as I got bigger, I want to say in like 10th grade, I really started to get my size and stuff like that. And I’ve always been a fan of football just because my brother played and everybody I knew played so, I always had fun with playing the game itself.

“But as I got bigger and stronger, I started to notice, I really can make something out of this. So it’s really more a business decision early, at 16, like ‘This is what I need to focus on. This hopefully where I can hopefully someday be in the position I am now.”

Six years later, the 22-year-old accomplished his dream of getting drafted into the NFL. Hines projects to at least battle for one of the backup guard spots with first-round pick Cole Strange likely becoming the team’s starting left guard.